LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


OF" 


F.    R. 


1833—1900 


{PRIVATELY    PRINTED} 


PHILADELPHIA 
1903 


FAIRMAN  ROGERS 


FAIRMAN  ROGERS  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the 
fifteenth  of  November,  1833,  anc^  died  m  Vienna  on 
the  twenty-second  of  August,  1900.  Within  this 
span  of  sixty-seven  years  there  is  comprised  a  life 
of  unusual  fulness, — but  how  brief  for  the  large 
circle  of  his  friends  ! 

He  was  the  only  son  of  Evans  Rogers,  a  retired 
iron-merchant  of  wealth,  and  of  Caroline  Augusta, 
a  daughter  of  Gideon  Fairman,  the  inventor  of  what 
is  known,  I  think,  as  (  engine-turning'  in  the  engrav- 
ing of  bank-notes.  To  this  invention  is  due  the 
elaborate  and  artistic  designs,  at  this  day,  on  our 
national  paper-currency,  whereof  we  are  justly 
proud.  In  addition  to  this  aptitude  for  mechanics, 
Gideon  Fairman  possessed  unusual  intellectual  and 
social  charms.  To  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  an  in- 
timate friend  of  Washington  Irving.  I  have  heard 
my  father  say  that  Washington  Irving  on  one  occa- 
sion declared  that  were  he  condemned  to  a  life-long 
imprisonment  with  the  privilege  of  choosing  the 
society  of  but  one  friend,  his  choice  as  a  companion 
would  be  Gideon  Fairman. 

It  is  worth  while  to  recall  these  characteristics  of 


the  grandfather ;  they  reappear  emphasized,  if  pos- 
sible, in  the  grandson. 

Fairman  Rogers' s  father,  sprung  from  a  sturdy 
Pennsylvania  stock  which  claims  descent  from  John 
Rogers,  'the  Martyr,'  was  an  unyielding  disciplina- 
rian, and,  while  indulging  his  son  in  whatever  wealth 
can  give,  inculcated  those  principles  of  moral  re- 
straint, exactitude  in  method,  and  precision  in  de- 
tails which  were  afterward  so  marked  a  feature 
in  the  son's  career.  Through  the  boy's  mother,  a 
woman  of  rare  personal  beauty,  was  transmitted, 
with  no  loss  in  the  transmission,  a  heritage  from 
Gideon  Fairman  of  a  serenity  of  temper  which  none 
of  the  vexations  of  life  could  ever  ruffle. 

Under  such  influences  the  young  lad  grew  up, 
disclosing  from  his  earliest  years  a  bent  for  me- 
chanical devices  ;  and  was  admired,  caressed,  and 
loved  by  all  who  knew  him  ;  he  was  fond  of  riding, 
of  dancing,  of  swimming,  of  skating;  his  abbrevi- 
ated, customary  name,  'Fair,'  lent  itself  readily  in 
his  childhood  to  the  endearing  and  equally  ap- 
propriate 'Fairy.'  Competent  as  he  was  in  many 
directions,  he  was  most  apt  in  Physics  and  Me- 
chanics. Even  while  yet  a  school-boy,  before 
he  was  admitted  to  college,  he  gave,  at  the  request 
of  his  school-teacher,  a  lecture  to  his  schoolmates 
on  the  electric  telegraph,  illustrated  by  means  of 
wires  attached  to  the  walls  and  ceiling  of  the  school- 
room. The  exact  date  of  this  truly  precocious 


performance  I  do  not  know,  but,  inasmuch  as  he 
entered  college  in  1849,  ft  must  have  been  in  his 
fourteenth  or  fifteenth  year, — that  is,  in  1847  or 
1848, — an  early  date,  I  fancy,  for  any  one  not  pro- 
fessional, still  more  for  so  young  a  lad,  to  have 
been  thus  familiar  with  the  subject  in  its  infant  days. 

He  entered  The  University  of  Pennsylvania  in 
his  sixteenth  year, — his  seventeenth  year  began  in 
the  following  November.  After  passing  his  en- 
trance examination,  he  sojourned  during  the  summer 
with  his  family  at  Bethlehem,  in  this  State  ;  here,  in 
a  family  also  sojourning  in  the  quaint  old  Moravian 
town,  he  met  his  '  fate'  in  Miss  Rebecca  H.  Gilpin. 
From  this  boy-love  at  first  sight  he  never  after  for 
an  instant  swerved,  but  remained  the  enamoured, 
loyal  lover  through  boyhood,  manhood,  and  through 
age.  After  their  marriage,  in  January,  1856,  forty- 
four  full  years  of  mutual  devotion  hallowed  a  union 
whereof  the  world  affords  only  too  few  examples. 

In  the  University  his  career  was  creditable  from 
the  start  to  the  close.  While  not  taking  the  high- 
est rank,  he  was  always  among  the  best.  For 
Latin  and  Greek  he  cared  little,  but  to  the  Mathe- 
matics and  Physics  he  devoted  all  his  zeal.  A 
friendship  here  begun  between  the  young  collegian 
and  Professor  John  F.  Frazer,  and  continued  with 
ever-increasing  closeness  as  years  advanced,  ex- 
erted an  abiding  and  beneficial  influence  on  the 
character  of  the  younger  man. 


After  he  was  graduated  in  1853,  young  Rogers 
travelled  for  many  months  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent,  where  his  route  was  mainly  determined 
by  his  eagerness  to  examine  the  most  famous  works 
of  modern  engineering  skill. 

After  his  return,  probably  in  1855,  another  warm 
and  enduring  friendship  enriched  his  life,  and 
was  destined  largely  to  control  it.  He  became 
acquainted, — possibly  at  the  table  of  Professor 
Frazer, — with  Professor  Alexander  Dallas  Bache, 
the  Superintendent  of  The  United  States  Coast 
Survey,  who  was  evidently  at  once  attracted  to  the 
quick-witted,  well-equipped,  sunny-tempered  young 
man,  and  eventually  accepted  his  services  as  a 
volunteer  aid  in  the  Government  work  then  on 
hand  in  the  measurement  of  a  Base  Line  in  Florida. 
Here  was  practice  in  the  field, — such  as  any  engineer 
double  young  Rogers' s  age  would  have  been  glad 
to  gain, — under  an  officer  the  highest  authority  in 
the  land  in  Civil  Engineering,  the  most  rigid  and 
punctilious  of  military  disciplinarians  when  on  duty, 
the  genial,  warm-hearted  friend,  and,  within  the 
limits  of  becoming  mirth,  the  most  jovial  of  com- 
panions in  hours  of  relaxation.  Sterile,  indeed, 
must  be  the  soil  which  would  not  respond  to  such 
influences.  In  young  Rogers's  case  the  soil  was 
ready  to  teem  with  flower  and  fruit.  The  hardest 
of  hard  work  ruled  the  day,  and  in  the  evening,  on 
board  the  Government  boat,  in  the  lagoons  of 


Florida — '"Sir,"  said  Dr  Johnson,  "we  had  good 
talk." '  Throughout  his  life  Rogers  delighted  to 
recall  the  varied  charms  of  this  and  similar  expedi- 
tions under  the  command  of  Professor  Bache. 

After  the  return  from  his  wedding  tour  in  Europe 
he  was  busily  occupied,  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Rebellion  in  1861,  in  giving  series  after  series 
ot  Lectures  on  Physics  and  its  branches  at  The 
Franklin  Institute  and  on  Civil  Engineering  at  The 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he  had  been 
installed  in  the  chair  of  that  department.  Later, 
in  1 86 1,  he  delivered  a  lecture  on  'Roads'  be- 
fore The  Smithsonian  Institution  in  Washington  ; 
and  still  later,  in  1863,  he  held  for  a  year  the  appoint- 
ment of  Lecturer  in  Harvard  College.  All  these 
Lectures  were  marked  by  complete  mastery  of  the 
subject,  by  thorough  minuteness  of  detail,  coupled 
with  clearness  of  exposition  and  a  quiet,  refined 
manner  of  delivery,  utterly  devoid  of  pedantry  or 
pretence. 

In  1857  he  was  elected  a  member  of  The  American 
Philosophical  Society, — the  youngest  man,  it  was  so 
stated  at  the  time,  (he  was  only  twenty-four  years 
of  age)  on  whom  this  honour  had  been  conferred. 
In  the  summer  of  the  same  year  he  accom- 
panied Professor  Bache  to  Maine,  again  as  a 
volunteer  aid,  for  the  purpose  of  measuring  the 
Epping  Base  Line,  near  Cherryfield,  in  that  State. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  found  Professor 


10 

Rogers  a  member  of  The  First  Troop  of  Philadel- 
phia City  Cavalry,  a  time-honoured  and  aristocratic 
militia  organization,  (dating  from  the  days  of  the 
Revolution)  of  which  our  city  has  been  always  justly 
proud  by  reason  of  its  admirable  drilling  and  its 
handsome  uniform.  Throughout  the  long,  still 
years  of  peace  its  duties  had  consisted  in  the  orna- 
mental yet  needful  office  of  acting  on  State  occasions 
as  escort  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  or  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  But  now  this  pro- 
found repose  was  broken  by  a  call  to  arms.  Al- 
though, probably,  not  a  young  man  had  joined  The 
City  Troop,  in  days  gone  by,  with  any  thought  that 
he  should  ever  have  to  put  his  sabre  to  warlike 
use,  yet  now — 

*  So  near  to  grandeur  is  our  dust, 

So  close  to  God  is  man, 
When  Duty  whispers  low,   ' ( Thou  must, ' ' 
The  youth  replies,   "I  can."  ' 

and  not  a  stripling  but  sprang  to  the  saddle.  In 
the  hurried  preparation  for  actual  service,  I  well 
remember  hearing  what  requisitions  were  made  on 
Fairman  Rogers's  forethought, — he  was  but  a  private 
in  the  ranks  then, — and  on  his  ingenuity  in  all  ques- 
tions of  detail,  however  minute.  He  spent  a  whole 
evening  showing,  over  and  over  again,  to  almost 
every  member  in  turn,  with  smiling  patience,  the 
most  expeditious  and  convenient  way  of  packing 


II 

the  kit,  and  the  most  economical  of  space.  When 
in  camp  Rogers  was  promoted  to  Orderly  Sergeant. 
Several  years  later,  when  the  Captain  died,  Rogers 
was  elected  to  the  vacancy. 

After  having  been  mustered  out  of  service  at  the 
end  of  the  three  months  for  which  The  Troop  had 
been  called  into  the  field,  Professor  Rogers  at  once 
returned  to  his  lectures  before  The  Franklin  Institute 
and  to  his  classes  at  The  University.  Again  he 
lectured  in  Washington  before  The  Smithsonian 
Institution,  this  time  on  '  Glaciers.'  In  the  mean- 
while he  was  again  on  Professor  Bache's  staff  en- 
gaged in  completing  the  survey  of  the  Potomac. 
The  autumn  saw  him  again  on  service  in  the  field  as 
a  volunteer  Engineer  Officer  on  the  staff  of  General 
Reynolds  ;  and  in  the  following  summer  of  1863,  he 
was  serving  in  the  same  capacity  on  the  staff  of 
General  William  F.  Smith.  Wherever  and  when- 
ever he  believed  he  could  be  of  service  to  his  coun- 
try or  to  his  fellow-men,  his  time,  his  labour,  his 
talents  were  freely  given. 

In  1863,  The  National  Academy  of  Sciences  was 
organized,  and  Fairman  Rogers  was  one  of  the 
original  fifty  members  elected  by  the  United  States 
Senate. 

As  a  member  of  this  Academy,  he  was  requested 
by  the  Government  to  correct  the  compasses  of 
the  iron  vessels,  which  for  this  purpose  and  for  his 
convenience  were  dispatched  to  the  Philadelphia 


12 


Navy  Yard.  This  task,  in  a  novel  department, 
required  of  him  extraordinary  skill,  and  was  of  the 
utmost  responsibility.  The  experience  and  the 
exhaustive  study  which  it  involved  found  expression 
a  few  years  later,  in  A  Treatise  on  Terrestrial 
Magnetism  and  on  the  Magnetism  of  Iron  Vessels, 
published  by  Van  Nostrand,  in  1877;  a  Revised 
Edition  was  published  in  1883.  At  one  time  the 
Treatise  was  used  as  a  text-book  in  The  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis. 

With  zeal  such  as  his  in  whatever  his  hand  found 
to  do,  united  with  so  much  efficiency,  executive  abil- 
ity, and  prepossessing  manners,  it  is  small  wonder 
that  many  an  institution  was  eager  to  obtain  his 
services  on  its  executive  board. 

After  having  faithfully  performed  the  duties  ot 
Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  The  University 
of  Pennsylvania  for  fifteen  years,  he  resigned  the 
position  in  1871,  and  was  immediately  elected  to 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  Nine  years  later,  when, 
through  the  resignation  of  Dr  Stille,  the  office  of 
Provost  became  vacant,  Professor  Rogers  (the  hon- 
ourable title  still  clung  to  him)  was  earnestly  and 
unanimously  requested  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
to  accept  the  position.  But  he  shrank  from  the 
weight  of  responsibility  and  the  restricted  liberty 
of  action  which  its  acceptance  would  entail,  and 
declined  the  honour. 

At  about  the  same  time  that  he  resigned  his  Pro- 


13 

fessorship  in  The  University,  he  was  elected  one 
of  the  Directors  of  The  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts. 
Herein  he  found  a  field  extremely  congenial  to  his 
tastes, — the  artistic  blood  of  his  grandfather  was 
always  stirring  in  him.  What  admirable  fruit  his 
zeal  and  enthusiasm  bore  let  the  following  minute 
tell,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Directors, 
after  the  tidings  of  his  death  in  Vienna  reached  this 
country : — 

*  Mr.  Rogers  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Board  in  1871,  and  for  twelve  years  served  the 
interests  of  the  institution  with  rare  intelligence 
and  devotion. 

'  At  the  time  of  his  election  the  Academy  was 
preparing  to  give  up  its  old  habitation  on  Chestnut 
Street,  and  Mr.  Rogers  became  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  in  charge  of  the  present  building.  In 
its  internal  design  and  arrangement  much  that  is 
admirable  and  best  is  owing  to  his  careful  and 
earnest  thought. 

'Upon  completion  of  the  work  in  1876, — the 
year  of  the  Nation's  Centennial  Anniversary, — he 
became  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Instruction. 
The  period  was  an  important  era  in  Art  Education 
in  the  United  States.  Under  Mr.  Rogers  the 
school  system  of  the  Academy  was  wholly  reor- 
ganized upon  a  basis  so  thorough  that  the  schools 
rose  to  the  highest  point  reached  in  this  country, 
and  for  the  first  time  women  were  admitted  to 


14 

them  upon  the  same  conditions  as  men.  Their 
pre-eminent  position  to-day  for  the  study  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  art,  and  their  character 
for  sincere  and  earnest  work,  are  in  large  measure 
due  to  Mr.  Rogers'  influence. 

'In  1883  he  relinquished  all  active  duties  and 
withdrew  from  the  Board  of  Direction,  but  the 
record  of  his  benefactions  and  services  must  always 
be  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  Academy.' 

Another  debt  which  we  owe  to  Fairman  Rogers 
is  that  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  The  Union 
League,  which  was  itself  an  offspring  of  The  Sat- 
urday Club,  whereof  also  he  was  one  of  the  origi- 
nal promoters.  The  indebtedness  of  our  city  in 
times  past  to  The  Saturday  Club  is  noteworthy. 
Composed  as  it  was  of  men  of  influence  and 
wealth,  it  fairly  represented  the  working  force  of 
the  city,  and  gave  to  this  force  a  unity  which 
neither  New  York  nor  Boston  possessed.  On  one 
occasion,  to  give  an  instance  of  what  I  mean,  at 
one  of  these  Saturday  Club  evenings,  the  unhappy 
case  was  mentioned  of  one  of  our  most  eminent 
scientific  men,  of  national  and  international  reputa- 
tion, not  a  resident  of  our  city,  who  was  about  to 
retire  from  his  position  at  the  head  of  a  well-known 
institution  in  Washington,  enforced  thereto  by  age 
and  infirmity,  and  yet  with  no  provision  for  his 
family.  The  assertion  was  accepted  by  a  group  of 
men  (in  which  Fairman  Rogers  was  prominent)  that 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

or 
15  Kj 

such  a  termination  of  a  most  honourable  career 
would  be  a  national  disgrace.  Whereupon,  in  a 
few  minutes,  the  sum  of  sixty  thousand  dollars  was 
promised,  and  the  amount  was  collected  and  sent  as 
a  tribute  of  deep  respect  within  two  or  three  days. 
I  doubt  that  in  those  days  a  similar  deed  could  have 
been  done  anywhere  else  as  expeditiously  as  in 
Philadelphia.  It  used  to  be  jocularly  said  that  half 
the  affairs  of  The  University  were  transacted  at  The 
Saturday  Club.  It  was  in  these  social  gatherings 
that  the  design  and  scope  of  a  Union  League  had 
its  origin.  In  the  final  organization  of  The  Union 
League,  Professor  Rogers  took  a  leading  part,  and 
when  it  moved  from  its  original  quarters  to  its 
present  location,  the  adoption  of  the  architectural 
design  of  the  building  fell  to  his  share  of  the  work, 
and  much  of  the  admirable  interior  arrangement  is 
due  to  him. 

From  his  early  years  Professor  Rogers  had  been 
a  collector  of  books  ;  naturally  he  preferred  those 
in  his  own  chosen  department  of  Civil  Engineering. 
Down  to  1878  this  collection  had  become  about  as 
complete  as  it  was  possible  to  make  it,  and  he  then 
presented  it  to  the  Library  of  The  University  as  a 
filial  and  enduring  memorial  of  his  father. 

In  another  and  favourite  department  he  had  also 
gathered  a  noteworthy  collection, — namely,  on 
Horsemanship.  This  collection  is  possibly  unparal- 
leled in  this  country,  and  probably  could  not  now 


i6 

X 

be  duplicated.      It,   too,  he   subsequently  gave  to 
The  University  Library. 

Professor  Rogers  was  one  of  the  early  photog- 
raphers, and  some  of  his  pictures,  taken  forty-five 
years  ago,  show  very  careful  manipulation,  and 
will  even  stand  a  lenient  comparison  with  those 
of  the  present  day. 

According  to  a  recent  communication  in  The 
Rider  and  Driver,  it  is  due  to  his  ingenious 
application  of  the  principle  of  a  Zootrope  that 
Mr.  Muybridge  was  enabled  to  show  from  his  own 
photographs  animals  in  motion.  From  this  device 
of  Professor  Rogers,  so  says  the  writer,  have  fol- 
lowed the  Biograph,  the  Cinematograph,  and  all 
similar  adaptations. 

One  of  the  first  typewriters,  if  not  the  very  first, 
was  set  up  by  its  inventor  in  Professor  Rogers's 
library.  At  that  time  I  remember  hearing  ol 
improvements  which  were  suggested  and  adopted, 
and  of  the  gratitude  of  the  inventor. 

Of  everything  pertaining  to  Riding,  Driving,  and 
Hunting  Professor  Rogers  was  unfeignedly  fond. 
He  had  ridden  in  England  with  The  Pytchley  and 
The  Quorn  Hunt,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the 
North  Warwickshire ;  here  at  home  he  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  The  Rose-Tree  Hunting  Club,  near 
Media.  Together  with  the  late  Judge  Cadwalader 
and  John  D.  Bleight,  esq.,  he  was  the  first  in  this 
country  to  test  Baucher's  methods  and  the  riding  of 


17 

the  Haute  Ecole.  He  was  also  the  first,  I  think,  in 
this  city, — at  least  within  recent  years, — to  own  and 
drive  a  Four-in-hand  Coach. 

Thus  it  was  that  this  many-sided  man  touched  life 
at  such  diverse  points,  and  his  solid  worth  dignified 
them  all.  The  hand  that  could  delicately  adjust  the 
compass  on  an  iron  ship  lost  none  of  our  respect 
when  it  deftly  caught  a  whip-lash  in  a  double  thong. 

The  care  and  responsibility  of  so  many  interests 
where  others  were  involved  could  not  fail,  as  the 
years  ran  on,  to  make  themselves  felt  to  one  as 
conscientious  in  the  performance  of  every  duty  as 
was  Professor  Rogers.  Accordingly,  from  time  to 
time  he  resigned  from  one  and  another  of  the 
many  institutions  whereof  he  was  a  director,  and 
finally  decided  to  give  up  his  steam  yacht,  and 
even  his  'house  beautiful'  at  Newport,  where,  as 
was  his  wont  in  everything  he  undertook,  he  had 
brought  the  art  of  'ribbon  gardening,'  to  such  per- 
fection that  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  his  neigh- 
bours in  even  that  flowery  kingdom  were  excited. 

An  honestly-earned  and  indefinite  rest  in  Europe 
seemed  now  to  be  his  as  of  right. 

But  a  mind  as  active  as  his  could  not  lie  idle, 
— work  of  some  kind  was  as  essential  to  it  as  is 
air  to  the  lungs.  Thus  it  happened  that  what  had 
been  hitherto  an  altogether  delightful  and  health- 
ful recreation  now  became  a  source  of  earnest  and 
profitable  study.  The  well-kept  roads  in  England 


i8 

and  on  the  Continent,  the  fair  landscapes,  the  way- 
side Inns,  the  summers  longer  and  gentler  than  here 
at  home, — all  combined  to  rekindle  his  love  of  horses 
and  of  driving ;  and  if  of  driving,  then  of  driving 
in  its  highest  perfection, — that  of  a  Four-in-hand. 
Before  his  imagination  there  floated  the  ideal  of  a 
book  which  should  hold  to  Coaching  the  same  rela- 
tion that  a  scientific  treatise  holds  to  its  subject, — it 
must  be  thorough,  exact,  exhaustive.  The  realisa- 
tion of  such  an  ideal  Professor  Rogers,  in  the 
maturity  of  his  powers,  now  resolved  to  attempt. 
The  result  was,  in  1899,  given  to  the  public  in 
A  Mamuil  of  Coaching,  a  work  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  praise  too  highly.  By  maintaining  no 
standard  lower  than  perfection  in  the  humblest 
details*  of  coach,  of  harness,  of  driving,  it  elevates 
what  is  perhaps  supposed  to  be  merely  the  pas- 
time of  luxurious  ease  into  the  dignity  of  an  art 
worthy  of  respect.  A  terret  or  a  splinter-bar  may 
be  an  insignificant  thing,  but  perfection  is  not ;  and 
in  this  Manual  nothing  is  overlooked,  from  the  posi- 
tion of  a  screw  to  the  mathematical  formula  for  com- 
puting the  centrifugal  force  in  turning  a  heavy  coach 
round  a  sharp  corner.  In  no  case  does  the  more 
excellent  way  fail  to  receive  due  note.  Even  to  those 
who  can  mount  the  box  and  handle  the  reins  only  in 
imagination,  the  book  is  good  reading.  Here  and 
there  beams  forth  the  twinkle  of  a  laughter-loving 
eye,  such  as  :  '  If  a  man  has  not  hands  enough  to 


19 

spare  one  to  take  off  his  hat  to  bow  to  a  lady,  he 
should  continue  to  practise  driving  until  he  can 
find  one ;'  and,  again,  *  There  is  something  so 
exhilarating  in  the  motion  behind  four  horses, 
through  the  fresh  air,  that  even  stupid  people  wake 
up,  and  for  once  make  themselves  agreeable ;' 
again,  the  humorous  description  of  an  unhappy 
beginner's  first  experience  on  the  box,  when  'the 
reins  seem  to  be  all  edges/  speaks  home  to  the 
heart  of  every  driver.  Again,  there  are  sentences  of 
epigrammatic  wisdom,  such  as :  'It  is  usually  better 
to  keep  out  of  a  "  fix,"  than  to  get  out/ 

It  is  a  sad  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  author 
lived  long  enough  to  be  assured  that  his  Manual 
was  warmly  admired  and  extolled  by  those  best 
qualified  to  judge,  and  gratefully  accepted  at  home 
and  abroad  as  a  standard  authority. 

The  end  came  swiftly,  in  Vienna.  The  footsteps 
of  death  were  inaudible  and  noiseless.  An  organic 
ailment, — long  suspected,  but  never  obtrusive, — 
culminated  after  about  a  week's  illness,  and  he  now 
rests  beside  his  father  and  his  mother  in  Laurel 
Hill  Cemetery. 

A  choicer  spirit  has  seldom  visited  this  earth. 
To  a  keen  intellect  were  united  clearness  of  exposi- 
tion and  a  retentive  memory.  Warm  and  loyal  in 
his  friendship,  he  never  cherished  an  ill-feeling, — for 
no  one  ever  did  him  an  unkindness.  On  many  an 


20 


institution  in  his  native  city  an  ineffaceable  impres- 
sion has  been  left  of  his  judicious  devotion  ;  of  un- 
stinted hospitality,  and  the  most  considerate  and 
attentive  of  hosts  ;  of  such  exquisite  urbanity  that, 
though  emphatic  and  inflexible  in  his  matured  con- 
victions, he  was  never  known  to  give  offence  in 
expressing  them  ;  of  high  veracity,  and  a  delicate 
sense  of  honour ;  and  of  such  imperturbable  se- 
renity that  it  may  be  said  with  absolute  truth  that 
a  harsh  or  hasty  word  never  fell  from  his  lips. 

Possibly  it  may  be  thought  by  those  who  did  not 
know  him  face  to  face  that  in  what  has  just  been 
said  there  is  too  much  of  the  'personal  equation.' 
Be  it  so.  We  were  children  together,  boys  to- 
gether, men  together,  brothers  in  love  and  in  law. 
I  can  say  but  what  I  believe. 

Before  her  who  is  left  within  a  shadow  which  will 
never  lift  we  can  but  stand  in  silence. 

H.  H.  F. 


